peters



UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

' DANIEL P. MEALEY, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OE COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF ANDI JOHN JOHNSON; SAID J. JOHNSON REASSIGNS HIS INTEREST To SAID MEALEY AND vSAID MEALEY ASSIGNS To HIMSELE AND A. E. H. JOHNSON, OE SAME PLACE.

DEVICE FOR SUSPENDING AND LIBERATING SHIPS BOATS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 23,985, dated May 10, 1859'.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL P. MEALEY, of Washington city, in the District of Columbia, have invented a certain new and Improved Device for Connecting and Disconnecting Ships Boats to and from Their Hoisting and Lowering Tackles; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawing of the same, making part of this specification, in which- Figure l, represents a view in perspective of my said device, the parts being in the position they occupy while connecting the boat with the davits. Fig. 2, represents an elevation of the same, showing the direction of the strain or pull upon the hanger and tumbler. Fig. 3, represents an elevation-showing the manner in which the connecting and locking of the tumbler, with the ring of the boat, may be effected with one hand. Fig. t, also represents an elevationshowing the manner in which the legs or jaws of the hanger serve as cut-oils to prevent the ring of the boat from being carried round by the motion of the tumbler, when released, and Fig. 5, represents a vertical section at the line w, an, of Fig. Q-showing the coincidence of the seats in the hanger and tumbler, upon which the ring rests.

In lowering ships boats from their davits, much dificulty is experienced in effecting their disengagement at the moment required. A device which will meet the requirements of all the various conditions and circumstances under which it is required to lower boats at sea, that is to say-Which will act with certainty and ease to free the boat from its klowering tackles, whether the sea b rough or calm, whether the ship be making high speed, or standing comparatively still; or the strain or pull upon the lowering tackles be heavy or light, continuous or intermittent, is a desideratum the achievement of which is the object of my invention. A nd I accomplish this object by constructin a tumbler with an opening or seat for the ring of the boat to rest in, in combination with a hanger in which it is mounted, in such manner that the seat of said opening will be coincident with, and on either side of, or between seats, formed in the hanger, for the purpose of supporting the weight and strain on the tackles almost entirely by the hanger itself, whereby the bolt which conlnesthe tumbler and the ring of the boat, will be prevented from being bound so tightly as to render it dificult to withdraw it when required. Moreover, since the strength of the hanger is necessarily much greater than that of the tumbler, to impose upon it the greater part of the strain adds greatly to the strengthV of the contrivance as a whole.

My said invention also consists in the arrangement of the mouth of the opening in the tumbler, in combination with the projecting part of the hanger and the seats thereunder in such manner thatthe mouth of said opening, when the seats of the tumbler and hanger coincide, will pass, or be inclosed by that portion of the hanger which juts over and beyond the seats formed therein, for the purpose of holding the ring snug upon its seats, however violently the boat may be agitated, or whatever the forces exerted upon the ring or tumbler, the ring cannot approach the mouth of the openingY until the tumbler is released, and by which arrangement the lateral bearing of the ring on the tumbler is maintained. V

My said invention further consists in constructing the lower part of the legs or jaws of the hanger, of such I''orm (and relative position tothe opening in the tumbler) as to form a cut-off to the ring of the boat, by preventing the tumbler from carrying the ring around back of the hanger, when released.

My said invention further consists iny constructing the tumbler with a shoulder or recess, in combination with a snug or projection on the dead-eye of the boat, whereby a person can effect the connection of the ring with the tumbler with one hand, as occasions frequently arise in which he would have to use his other hand to hold on to the boat, or to keep it off from the Ships side in rough seas; the dead-eye 'having sutlicient drop to allow the ring to rest in its seat, while the tumbler is being locked to the ring in this way.

In the drawing A represents the hanger or body of the contrivance, having an eye B, into which the hook of the ordinary block and tackle working from the ships davits is secured; and its lower end being divided so as to form an openin C, to receive a tumbler or turning plate into which the ring of the boat locks. y

The tumbler is mounted upon a horizontal pin `or bolt a, of suitable diameter riveted into the legs of the hanger, so that the tumbler turns thereon.

The tumbler may be of any suitable form; I prefer however, that form shown in the drawings, which approximates to an oval,

and it is placed eccentrically upon its pin a.4 An opening E, is. made in that part of th tumbler farthest from its supporting pin, extending from its circumference a suitable distance in the direction of the pin a to` form a seat for the ring of the boat. On one side ofthe mouth of this opening a shoulder 29 is formed against which a bolt lits to lock thev link in place. The seat of the opening E, is directly over the pin a of the tumbler, while the opening itself inclines a little to one side of a vertical linewhen the tumbler is locked to, thefring.

In lowering boats when a ship is under way the strain or pull on the lowering tackles is very great when the boat reaches the water.` ToV relieve the tumbler of the greatest portion of this weight and strain, is necessary in order to allow the bolt that locks it to be withdrawn with ease and facility. To. accomplish this, I construct the hanger with seats c, c, on either sidel of, and coincident with the seat in the tumbler, for the ring or link. of the boat to rest upon. These. seats c are formed byl recessing and curving the, legs of the hanger directly over the pin a of the tumbler D, so as to form a cavity, in the lower bend of the neck of which the said seats are made so that their bearing conforms to. the curve or circle of the ring resting thereon as represented in Fig. 5. VIt will be seen, that although the seats in the hanger and tumbler are vertically over the supporting pin of the latter, yet the opening inclines a little to one sideof a vertical line through said pin a, when inthe position shown in Fig. 2f, and' the sides of the cavity being curved' downward from the seats 0, 0, allows the link or ring while restin on said seats, to pressy also onone side o 'the opening E, by which the tumbler is made to bear suficient of the weight and strain in a lateral direction tokeep the shoulder b always against the bolt F, and tocause they tumbler toact and. turn with certainty' to. release its connection with the ring ofthe boat, when the` bolt is withdrawn.

rlhe upper bend or side m, ofthe cavity is made to overhang the seats 0 c, and the arrangement of the opening in the tumbler is such, that when the seat i in the tumbler meets and agrees with: the seatsV c c in the hanger, the. mouth of thel opening E, willi pass, and be inclosed by the legs of the hanger, thereby conning the link snugly upon its seats, leaving barely room enough between the top of the cavity and the seat in the tumbler to allow the'link to pass in and out without being bound. Moreover, were it not for this arrangement the ring would not maintain its lateral bearing upon the opening E, with that degree of constancy which is necessary to the proper operation of the tumbler when released.

The bolt or catch F, is placed against the side of the hanger, opposite to that on which the ring is confined, and is held in place by two guide staples d, CZ, or other suitable means. A handle e isy formed on its upper end by which it is raised, when required. Its descent is effected by its own weight, and is limited by resting on the legs of the hanger, which are so curved as to form this support as shown in Fig. l. In turning the tumbler to bring up the opening E, the bolt is raised by the curved back of the shoulder b, and drops behind said shoulder the mo l ment it passes the bolt.

Ordinarily the connection of the ring of the boat, with the tumbler, is eected by grasping the hanger with one hand, and the ring with the other, and placing the` latter in the mouth of the opening, and turning the tumbler until the shoulder passes the bolt. But as it often happens that the person making the connection, cannot. use both hands for that purpose without endangering his own life, I have devised an` arrangement by which he will be enabled to make the connection with one hand on such occasions. A recess f, is formed` the lower portion of the tumbler, and a snug or projection g, on the upper part of the dead-eye Gr,so that by grasping the hanger with one hand, and catching the ring in the opening E, and pressing the hanger down so as toJ fit the recess. against. the projection g, then pulling the hanger to. one side as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3, the tumbler will be turned so as to bring the opening up the position shown in Fig. 2. As the tumbler is necessarily brought contact. with the dead-eye, when making the connection inr this` way, the dead-eye must have suflicient. drop to allow the ring to rest on its seat, and the mouth ofthe opening E, to. pass between the.

legs ofthe hanger.

When the bolt or catch F, is` raised the opening in the tumbler, together with the ring will turn with a quick motion. To prevent the ring from being carried back of the hanger in its rapid descent, I have extended the legs thereof' below the rangev of motion of the opening E, so asl to intercept its passage, and thus act as a cut-off to the descent of the rin`g as represented in Fig. 4, thesides of the legsadjacent to thev ring being of such formas to push ther-'ing out of said opening during the motion of the tumasses 3 bler; the red lines in this figure, show the position of the tumbler and ring after their separat-ion.

A dead-eye Gr, with a ring or link H, it will be understood, is secured into the bow and stearn posts of the boat. For heavy boats however, the ring will be attached to an eye which will'be secured to the boatby chains in the usual manner.

Should the tackle be slacked when disconnecting the ring, the act of raising the bolt will be sufiicient to cause the ring to pull the tumbler down.

Should it be found necessary to guard against the possibility of the bolt or catch releasing the tumbler at an improper time by the violent agitationi of the boat, which might jolt it out of place, it may be fitted with a spring or springs, so as to constantly press it down; or the bolt may be held by a hook attached to the hanger in such a manner as to hook into one side of the bolt, which may project a little at its lower end beyond the hanger, for that purpose. Various other modifications may be made without departing from the principle of my invention, as forv instance, the tumblerneed not be hung eccentrically; nor placed between the legs of the hanger, but may be secured to one side of the hanger, and operate as described.

I propose to make the several parts of the device of composition metal to prevent rusting.

Among the many advantages of my improvement, may be enumerated the following, viz: It can be applied to the hook of the tackle now in use, by simply hooking the hook of said block and tackle into the eye of the hanger, while the ring of the boat locks with the tumbler. It can be removed from the tackle in case of breakage, and replaced by a new device in a moment. It can be attached and detached in the night as readily as in the day, and requires no more skill to manage it in a storm than in a calm. And although the disconnection can be instantly made, under any and every circumstance, yet the device is under the complete control of the persons inthe boat.

Having thus described my improvements, I claiml. The hanger constructed with a seat or seats for the ring of the boat to rest upon, in combination with the seat formed in the tumbler, in such manner that the seat or seats of the hanger shall coincide with the seat in the tumbler, that a large proportion of the weight and strain may be supported by the hanger, which increases the power of the device to resist strains, and facilitates the unlatching of the tumbler, substantially as described.

2. I claim also in combination with the above the arrangement of the opening E in the tumbler, in combination with the seats c, c, and that portion m of the hanger which rises above and overhangs them, in such manner that when the seats of the hanger and tumbler coincide, the mouth of said opening will pass, and be inclosed by the hanger, in the manner and for the purposes described.

3. I also claim in combination with the tumbler and hanger, arranged as above described, extending the legs of the hanger, below the range of motion of the opening in the tumbler, so as to form a cut-off to the passage of the ring, and thus prevent it from being carried round with the motion of the tumbler, substantially as described. Y

4. I also claim in combination with a boat detacher making a recess or shoulder f in the tumbler in combination with a snug or'projection g, on the dead-eye, whereby the connection of the ring of the boat with the tumbler, may be made with one hand, when necessary, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

DANIEL P. MEALEY.

Witnesses:

J No. JoHNsoN, THOMAS C. DONN. 

